Mr. Osita Okechukwu, the Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON),
Osita Okechukwu on Monday insisted that the immediate demand of Ndigbo
is the creation of Adada State or any other additional state in the
South East, as well as president of Igbo extraction.

He spoke in reacting to the statement of the Deputy Senate President,
Distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu to the effect that, “if the
dominant views in the public domain are anything to go by, then
undoubtedly, the minimum Ndigbo demand of Nigeria is a restructure of
the federation.”

Okechukwu described Ekweremadu’s statement as a blatant falsehood and sheer minority view of Igbo elite.

“My understanding of majority of Ndigbo minimum demand is creation of
Adada State or any other additional state, no matter the name and more
local government areas to level us with other zones, which have more
senators, federal representatives, and that collect more revenue from
the federation account.

This is our irreducible minimum demand.

“I am not opposed to restructuring as my definition of restructuring
is the creation of at least one additional state and local government
areas in the South East, to leverage Ndigbo with other regions as up to
now Distinguished Senator Ekweremadu and his elite clan has no exact
definition of restructuring.

Today they talk of regions, which Nigerians
voted against in the Abacha, Obasanjo and Jonathan Constitutional
Conferences,” Okechukwu said.‎

Reminded that he seemed to be the lonely voice in the wilderness,
Okechukwu posited: “How can you classify me as lonely voice in the
wilderness, when records are my witness? The Jonathan Constitutional
Conference for instance recommended for creation of 18 States, not
region. I challenge my brother Ekweremadu to show us where he
recommended the restructuring he is canvassing today in the senate
reports on Construction Review which he severely headed.”

He expressed fears that there were Igbo opportunists who were
exploiting the hunger, poverty and gross unemployment to deceive their
people, as if hunger, poverty and gross unemployment were located only
in the South East.

He accused such opportunists of “dishing out vile propaganda to blind
our people from the good projects going on, instead of allowing our
people to benefit from President Muhammadu Buhari’s silent social
revolution, among which is rebuilding of infrastructure, promotion of
agriculture and solid minerals.

“Is it not a paradox that these are same people who had every
opportunity to fix Enugu-Onitsha, Enugu-PH and other federal roads and
2nd Niger Bridge, Enugu Coal but squandered the opportunity are today
causing confusion?”

“My people let’s think out of the box, strategise broadly, join
President Buhari in the social revolution and where necessary source for
loan for infrastructure, as our brothers in the South West are doing
and prepare for 2023 for a president of Nigeria of Igbo extraction.

Adequate infrastructure in my candid opinion will transform our zone to
unimaginable proportion and this is a golden opportunity knocking in our
door. Let the Ekweremadus not deceive or distract us”, Okechukwu said.